Sure! Your confusion comes because your "siphon thingy"
is indeed probably your gravel cleaner!!!
There are technically 2 or 3 common types of gravel cleaners out there: Battery operated ones that you hold and they pump water up from the gravel and through a mesh bag to remove particles. Hand squeezed pumps that do exactly the same thing. These comprise 2 of the types...
BUT, by far the best method and the one we like all beginners to learn about as an important habit is the type that is indeed a SIPHON. The business end is usually a big clear plastic cylinder of more firm plastic than the flexible siphon hose. At water change time, you are going to jiggle this cylinder down in the gravel and the movement of water up through the siphon is going to cause the gravel the churn and swirl and that will allow the debris trapped in the gravel to float up with the outgoing water.
There are several methods to get the siphon going, but the oldest one in the hobby is just to let all the air out of your lungs and suck air in at the far end of the siphon hose away from the tank. The far end can be at a bucket below your tank, at your garden out back or at your bathtub or a sink. A new popular starting method is to have a valve that uses faucet pressure to create a vacuum in your siphon hose. The adapter that fits your faucet then does double duty, allowing you to run water directly back into your tank, even if it is far away, since you can buy most any lenth hose with these systems. Python is a popular brand of this. They make great stuff but are fairly expensive. As you know, any siphon works on the principle that the far end -must- be lower than the tank water!
The skill in a gravel clean is to refine how you get it all done in a short time. Its best to sponge/scrape all your interior glass first to loose any algae that might be starting. Some people like to also remove their decorations to a sink at this point for separate cleaning later. Then you start the siphon at the far end and go back to the tank. You need to work quickly as usually your time will be gone when you get to a 30 to 50% water change mark (if you have fish in the tank that is.) You work your way around as much gravel as you can, gently digging down deep in the gravel and churning it all up as much as possible. Its better to cover a large area in a shallow way first to get the worst of the debris. Don't worry about messing up your gravel layout, as you'll just have to fix all that back up with your hand after the gravel clean. Once your water level gets to the percentage change you planned, just pull the cylinder up and break the suction. That ends the gravel cleaning session. Leave the cylinder in the tank for the refill if you use a Python type device. Go to the sink and clean your ornaments with tap water and an old toothbrush if necessary. Go back to the tank and re-shape the gravel and re-place the ornaments and do any other things necessary, like getting plants re-situated with their crowns above the gravel.
Finally, do your refill procedure. If you use a long hose, just toss in half the proper amount of Prime, or whatever dechlor product you use and then refill with the faucet set to the right temperature (I use a big cup of tank water at the sink to feel with my hand and adjust the tap temperature before I hook up the hose.) Toss in the other half of dechlor at the end of the fill. Your refill procedure should always involve watching your tank very carefully -- you don't want to have an overflow disaster in your room. If you use buckets, you can use a plate down on the gravel to keep it from being disturbed. If you have sand then the gravel cleaning procedures are different in that you have to hover the cylinder up above the sand and not suck the sand itself into the siphon. When you're done, be sure to keep track of the water in your hose so it won't mess up your house. During all procedures with tanks, be extra careful not to start a "sloshing" motion as you don't want spillage, or even breakage.. usually they're pretty tough though, so don't be overly scared.
Whew, no idea what possessed me to type all that.
~~waterdrop~~
ps. Forgot to say the most important thing!! The reason siphon cleanings are superior is that water changing itself is such an important habit. Non siphon gravel cleaning is an invitation to not doing water changes and that's very, very bad for most beginners.
